A Life Cut Short in the Flames

This is a record of an interview with Liu Kaideng, who sought deliverance at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Dharma-Nature Land. This account reflects upon his life and his passing in the Hong Kong Wang Fuk Court fire. Recorded by the chief writer, Venerable HaiZe, on November 30, 2025.

Liu Kaideng speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Liu Kaideng, and I am forty-six years old. I was always quite sharp as a child, and I suppose that never really changed. But I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that I would end up as one of the victims in a fire. You might not find my name easily in the reports—let me get that out of the way first! I used a pseudonym to rent that apartment, but the Buddha... well, the Buddha is truly incredible. He actually knew my real name.

Regardless, I am currently at the Western Dharma-Nature Land of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. My consciousness has recovered significantly now. It is nothing like when I was first brought here by the Buddha-light. Back then, I was just like most people—crying, screaming, and wailing incessantly. But today is the third day, and it is time to calm down. Besides, the environment here is absolutely magnificent.

The Radiance of Buddha-light

It is the Buddha-light. At first, I only knew it was light—very bright. Now, I realise this light is not ordinary electric light, or a lamp, or anything of that sort. It is Buddha-light. Only the Buddha could radiate such a light, and only that light could soothe the hearts of us poor, sorrowful, angry, and resentful victims of the Hong Kong Wang Fuk Court fire.

Do I sound like I am doing a live news report? That is right—it is one of my hobbies. So, I can describe the process of my suffering in a very short time.

The Impermanence of a Forty-Six-Year Life

Human life has a beginning, but when does it end? A life can be long or short, but how long or how short it will be is something no one can predict. If we could foresee it, I think everyone would want to give themselves a proper send-off. This is what we call the impermanence of life. But when you are faced with the completely unpredictable, you have no choice but to face it. Facing it meant watching my own body being engulfed and consumed by the flames in that massive fire at Wang Fuk Court.

To be honest, it was a living hell on earth. It was incredibly cruel and too horrific to witness, yet it happened to me, Liu Kaideng. Forty-six years of life—that is long, yet it is also short. It is nearly the better part of a lifetime. I had no marriage, no wife, and no children because I did not want to be tied down. I lived alone in that small apartment of about ten square metres. I have no siblings, and my parents had only me; they have already passed away. My life was simple. I do not like complexity, and living alone meant I did not have to expend too much energy. A simple room was enough. I had no burdens, so I left this world 'lightly,' without any baggage—it was just the way I left that was so desolate. No matter how happy or glorious my past was, or how good my academic results or work performance were, my body has already been burned. All that remains is a spirit. A spirit is a ghost, I suppose. At this moment, I am what you would call a ghost."

So, I began to climb upwards, but the smoke was surging upwards just as quickly. I followed the smoke, ascending with it, and inhaled several mouthfuls of it, choking until I couldn't stop coughing. Suddenly, a wall of fire appeared before my eyes. Wow! Heavens! If this fire hadn't appeared, that would be one thing, but once it did, it was a raging inferno! Was I supposed to throw my body into the flames? Or should I run back down? Weighing the two options, at least downstairs, although filled with smoke, I hadn't seen the fire yet—which was strange in itself. I didn't want to think about it anymore; everywhere was dangerous. If I couldn't go up, I would go down.

As it turned out, I rushed down through the thick, black, heavy smoke, choking on several more mouthfuls. I kept my body low; at least the fire was rising, and the air was pressed towards the floor. If I could breathe, I could survive, so I kept my body low, though the thick fog remained. I pressed myself even lower, until I was crawling, crawling all the way down.

A Desperate Plea for Help

Finally, I managed to see a place without fire. I suddenly remembered that this was my second time coming out of my home. When I first opened the door and came out, I had gone to the other side of our floor. That place was also filled with thick smoke, but I hadn't seen a sea of fire. I tried knocking on the doors of homes where I saw shoes outside, thinking there must be people inside. I knocked on the door, very loudly, wanting to tell them to run quickly—that escaping was a matter of life and death.

Eventually, the door opened. It was a lady. When she saw me, perhaps seeing how dishevelled I looked, she didn't say a word and immediately slammed the door shut. I tried ringing the doorbell a second time, but she didn't open it again. Madam, if you had been able to escape earlier, perhaps you would have had a chance to live. Forget it, forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore...

The Final Struggle

I continued to crawl downwards, keeping my body low, using both hands to crawl down the stairs. I was thinking, maybe I have a chance to escape? My eyes couldn't see clearly ahead; I hadn't brought my glasses. Earlier, when I was at home trying to find a towel to wet, I had left my glasses in the bathroom—it was a habitual action. Everything before me was hazy and filled with smoke. I didn't know what the situation was ahead, but I had no choice; at least I was still breathing, so I continued to crawl down.

But things took a turn for the worse! I suddenly felt like I couldn't get any air! It turned out that ahead of me was a sea of red fire. This place was a sea of fire, and where was the fire going to burn next? I needed to avoid the fire. I suppose after one floor burns, some fire stays on that level, and some spreads upwards!

What was I supposed to do now? Was I supposed to continue into the sea of fire, not knowing if there was life or death ahead, or if there was fire or no fire? Fine, I decided to climb back up. I had been going up and down the stairs, and now I had to go up again. Perhaps there was still some space above. As it turned out, I climbed up, up, and up. Before, I had climbed up, but because of the sea of fire ahead, I had gone down. Now that I was going up again, wasn't I just returning to where I started? I laughed at myself for being so stupid, but what else could I do? There was fire on both sides. Who could tell me, who could save me, and tell me what to do now?

The Separation of Spirit and Body

Although I felt exhausted, at this moment, I could no longer feel my own body. I only had one thought: survive! Usually, I consider myself quite eloquent, but what could I do at a time like this? People who are usually capable are probably all the same in this situation—panicked, terrified, afraid, and begging for help.

When I climbed up and saw the sea of fire ahead, I thought, isn't this returning to the starting point? But there was no way out; there was fire on both sides. Just as I was thinking this, there was a sudden boom behind me. The fire pushed towards the staircase like a wave, and the flames burned onto my body! I had nowhere left to go. I felt that my body was already weak from crawling, and with my whole body drained of strength and engulfed in flames, I actually started rolling. I had still had the strength to climb up, but after being burned by the fire, I rolled downwards—it was an involuntary movement of a body without strength, rolling downwards.

I knew I had passed through the great fire and stopped at a flat area, likely a landing between the stairs. I just stayed there. My body hurt so much, so much. I wondered if rolling would make the fire less intense, but no, there was fire everywhere. At the same time, a force pushed my spirit out. I felt that it was very difficult for my spirit to leave this body, and this pushing force made my spirit have no choice but to exit. It was so painful! So painful! My spirit was struggling.

At that moment, I remembered hearing elders say that for those who do not have a good death, the moment the spirit leaves the body is very painful. I wondered, is that what I was experiencing now? My spirit was still struggling to break free; it was truly like being cut by a knife. Was it the pain of the fire burning the body, or the pain of the spirit leaving the body? Perhaps it was both! With great difficulty, my spirit finally left my body. I saw my body covered by fire and thick fog. The result was predictable: I was dead! Heavens! I had parted ways with the body I had used for forty-six years just like that. My spirit was incredibly sorrowful.

The Light of Deliverance

Looking around, I finally realised how powerful the fire was—it was immense. I saw other floors catching fire, and I heard many sounds. I had heard that for those who are dying, the sense of hearing is the last to disappear. My experience now was that the hearing of the spirit is also very keen, because I heard many cries and screams for mothers—there were voices of children and adults, all filled with terror and fear.

My spirit stayed there, not knowing what to do. I had never been taught what to do in such a situation. I realised then that humans are so fragile, so ignorant. Not knowing what to do is ignorance; this was completely different from my usual confidence and capability.

I found that my spirit seemed to go limp, collapsing without strength. Two lines of hot tears were in my eye sockets... spirits can shed tears too. My spirit went limp, collapsed, as if there were ground beneath me, yet as if there were none. I knew I was lying on the ground. Had I fallen asleep again? I didn't know.

Afterwards, a light shone upon me. This light was incredibly powerful; it awakened my spirit. This awakened spirit looked around, and it wasn't just me being illuminated, but the entire area—it was a sea of light! Everywhere I could see was bright! Everyone was being taken away by the light. I was one of them. I had no idea what to do, but the light that shone upon me simply took me away. At that time, many spirits were taken away just like that. By then, I was already dead, because my body had been burned by the fire. Wasn't that death? But my spirit was still there. Now, my spirit is the continuation of my body, and I am using my spirit to describe to everyone the failure of my escape from the sea of fire. I am a deceased person who unfortunately passed away.

A Place of Peace

That light took us away, and almost instantly, we arrived at a bright place. We didn't know where this bright place was. What had happened? The only thing I could understand about my feelings at the time was that this place was very good—at least it was far better than the fire scene.

I looked around again. This was a very quiet and peaceful place. There was no sea of fire, no flames, and no thick, suffocating smoke. At the very least, this was a place where one could stay. At that time, my spirit was still very exhausted. I felt as if I had fallen asleep—it was a very reassuring sleep. After this battle between life and death, I had lost. After all, I could not contend with the irresistible power of the sea of fire; I could not win. To win would mean you were successfully saved, your life remained, and your body was still intact—that would be success. But the result for me was failure. Failure meant I no longer had a body; my body had been consumed by the sea of fire.

My spirit had indeed been saved; I believe it must have been saved, brought to this safe place. Here, I was drowsy and tired, and I fell asleep. I didn't need to worry about the fire burning me again, so I fell into a peaceful, secure sleep. It turns out that spirits can also be this exhausted. After the battle of life and death, I had lost, but my spirit was still there. It turns out that the spirit does not die; only the body dies.

When I woke up, I was still in this place, having not been moved. I was incredibly lucky. If I had been moved, I don't know what would have happened. Now, I have no confidence in life; I must admit that I am completely powerless to control it!

Originally, I had been hearing sounds of crying and calling out, but after I woke up from my sleep, these sounds seemed to have subsided. I don't know how long I slept. There were no mobile phones or clocks here to look at. My phone was inside my house; perhaps that memento had also been burned away. I was used to checking the time on my phone, and I didn't wear a watch. Now, I don't know what year, month, or day it is, or how much time has passed. However, I was much clearer-headed now. After resting, my spirit felt much better.

The Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre

I looked around to see what kind of place this was. What kind of power was so great that it could bring so many of our spirits to this place? And what kind of place could accommodate us? I can be certain of one thing: this is definitely not a place in the world; it is not any place in the world. So, this must be a place that only spirits can reach.

Later, I looked at the entire environment. In this space, we could see another space. It was like watching television; you sit in front of the television, the room is one space, and the inside of the television is another space. Unlike television, this space naturally had sound, naturally had movement, and its size was not something you could control. In short, you just watched and listened to everything.

In this place, I saw and heard that this was a temple, called the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, and it was located in Australia—the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. Wow! I was shocked. I had been in Hong Kong, and now my spirit had run to Australia. That distance is quite far. I still have some concept of geography; such a long distance, and this light could reach it in an instant. What kind of light is this?

"The place we are in now is called the Western Land of Dharma Nature. It is so bright, so incredibly luminous. This is a realm for spirits; those who enter are not human, but spirits—and spirits are what you would call ghosts. But there are many different types of spirits. I used to be quite interested in the nature of the soul and read a few books on the subject, so I know there are higher-level spirits and lower-level spirits. Spirits from the human world are considered quite intelligent. I suppose this is a place for spirits to find peace, a sanctuary for the soul."

"It is a strange but incredibly safe place, somewhere I have never been before. A Dharma assembly is being held here. I know what a Dharma assembly is; I have attended them before in my life. Back then, I saw images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in temples, and now I can see them here in this temple too. I can also hear the chanting. What is truly special is that everyone is chanting 'Namo Amituofo, Namo Amituofo.' As they walk, they chant 'Namo Amituofo.' From where I am, I can hear it very clearly, and it sounds absolutely beautiful. It resonates in a way that touches the very core of my being."

A Strange New Reality

"As I focused on understanding the terrain and the current situation, the sorrow of my spirit diminished significantly. I heard a voice. The person speaking was a kind, elderly man who seemed very at ease, yet his voice was full of vitality and strength. He was giving a teaching to everyone. My heart had been so heavy with grief that I didn't have the energy to listen to what he was saying, but his voice reached my ears quite naturally, cutting through the fog of my despair."

"I heard what he said. I had never heard such things before. It was an experience of practice, and it felt highly credible. Now that I am already on this land, what is there to believe or not believe? What is there to learn or not learn? I will just go with the flow. At this moment, I have truly let go of everything. Having experienced the threshold of life and death, having experienced the soul after death, many things are naturally let go. The weight of the world just falls away."

Comfort in the Lotus Seat

"The lotus seat I am sitting on here in the Western Land of Dharma Nature at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia is very soft and comfortable. There are no flames on my body, no thick smoke choking me, no ash on my face, no dense fog—none of that. Perhaps my soul has been cleansed by the Buddha-light here. This is a place specifically for settling souls, and the spirits here are doing very well! Every spirit is sitting on a lotus seat, including me. I even fell asleep on the lotus seat; it is incredibly comfortable and soft, even better than my own bed. But that bed has turned to nothingness now. Sigh! Let the past be the past; let it go. I am still Liu Kaideng, my body is dead, but my soul is still here. My soul has not died."

"The kind, elderly man speaking with such resonance during the Dharma assembly—I have never heard what he said before, but it makes sense. There are many Venerables present, as well as some who look like lay practitioners, sitting quietly and listening respectfully. Actually, the most spectacular part is that there are many spirits densely packed in the air, listening as well. This is not something the physical eyes can see, but I can see it because I am now one of those spirits. It is a sight that defies human logic."

The Light of Deliverance

"Listening to this kind, elderly man, I finally understood that we were at Wang Fuk Court when we were touched by the Buddha-light of Namo Amituofo and sent to the Western Land of Dharma Nature at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. The kind elder told us to be at ease: 'It is alright now. Whatever you want to eat, it will appear automatically when you think of it.' I had forgotten that I had only eaten half of my dinner; I didn't manage to escape. If he hadn't mentioned food, I wouldn't have thought of it, but as soon as he said it, I actually felt that this spirit could also get hungry. This must be a habit of the body that I cannot yet detach from."

"When I thought this, my dinner actually appeared before my eyes! I ate that meal with tears in my eyes. I didn't eat it with my mouth... it's strange. I must accept that I am dead now. I am a spirit, a ghost. So, ghosts don't use their mouths to bite? There are no teeth, right? Do I have teeth? I tried to bite. It seems I have them, but it also seems I don't. I don't understand, but I smelled a very fragrant aroma. After smelling it, I felt full. Once I was full, the food naturally disappeared. This is truly a wonderful place; there is no such place in the human world."

A Transformation of Spirit

"My body must be very cool and refreshed! My clothes were burned to ashes, but strangely, this spirit is wearing a set of clothes—white clothes! Haha! They look very similar to the clothes worn by the lay practitioners in the Dharma assembly. How refreshing and comfortable! What is going on? I don't understand. I didn't change clothes, so how did these clothes automatically appear on me? It is as if the environment itself provides what is needed."

"Later, I saw this kind elder who was speaking, and he could actually manifest multiple bodies! Just like the seventy-two transformations of Sun Wukong, suddenly many manifestations appeared from the top of his head. I heard that this elder's name is Practitioner Su. I have this skill. At the same time, the light that shone on the fire scene can also be seen here. It is the same, a vast expanse! It is like an invisible protective shield protecting everyone, guiding everyone, and shielding everyone. This place is truly special!"

Gratitude and Final Peace

"At this moment, my heart is filled with gratitude. I have finally been saved! At the very least, the temple is a safe place; it will not harm people, nor will it harm spirits! Because there is a Buddha in the temple. At the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, the Buddha is Namo Amituofo. Hearing the Dharma assembly constantly chanting Namo Amituofo, I also joined in. As I chanted, I shed tears, feeling the bitterness, grievances, and suffering... I suppose it should be called suffering, pouring out through the Buddha-name in my tears. However everyone chanted, I chanted; however they sang, I sang. As I sang, I suddenly felt my heart begin to resolve its conflicts."

"All of this has happened in my life. I really do not have a body anymore. I must constantly tell myself to accept this fact, to accept the fact that I am already dead. In that accidental fire, I witnessed with my own eyes my body being covered by fire and thick smoke. What chance of survival could there have been? If I hadn't seen it, I might have held onto a glimmer of hope, but since I saw it, I knew there was no hope."

"As I chanted the Buddha-name 'Namo Amituofo, Namo Amituofo,' walking while chanting, tears kept falling. There was no dissatisfaction in my heart, but I felt very sad and aggrieved. At this moment, the Buddha-light was still shining on this peaceful land. Being illuminated by the Buddha-light, I continued to chant. As I chanted, my heart became much calmer."

A New Beginning

"Will I stay in this place from now on? A forty-six-year-old man like me has disappeared in that sea of fire. Whether time or the search list includes my existence, it no longer matters. Life has ended just like that. Even if the friends who knew me in the world are feeling sad for me? Perhaps they also know that a massive fire occurred where I lived, but I believe they will recover in a few days. This is the reality of things. At least someone feels sad for you! But this is not bad either; in this place, you are well taken care of, and there is no need to be busy with anything."

"Alright, these are the feelings in my heart right now. I want to thank everyone. First, I must thank Namo Amituofo. Without the Buddha's light, none of us could have been saved. Under such Buddha-light, the spirits taken away were definitely not just 128 souls, but countless, countless, countless souls. This is also a process I witnessed with my own eyes."

"Here, I thank Namo Amituofo, I thank Practitioner Su, and I thank the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre for being able to save us suffering souls. Now, we have found peace here. It is truly the greatest blessing."

"Namo Amituofo, Namo Amituofo, Namo Amituofo."

"Liu Kaideng"